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Prehistoric Art
Art before Written History
Prehistoric Art
• Our knowledge of Prehistoric “cave people” based on art (and fossils)
• The art that survives is a small fraction of the total art created
• Study of Prehistoric art began only 200 years ago
Ice Age – Stone Age
• Earliest upright human beings came into existence 4.4 million years ago
• Homo sapiens (“wise humans”) appeared about 200,000 years ago
• Earliest humans from Africa.
• As the Ice Age glaciers receded, humans spread across Asia, into Europe, and finally to Australia and the Americas
Prehistoric Periods
• Paleolithic Old Stone Age Paleo = old / Lithic = stone (35,000 – 8000 BCE)
• Mesolithic Middle Stone Age Meso = middle / Lithic = stone (8000 – 4000 BCE)
• Neolithic New Stone Age Neo = new / Lithic = stone (4000 – 1500 BCE)
• Bronze Age Bronze - alloy metal made from tin and copper (2300 - 1000 BCE)
• Iron Age (1000 BCE – 50 CE)
Dating System
Western Dating System
BCE (Before Christ Era)
CE (Christ Era)
1000 BCE
1000 CE0 2014 CE
Year10,000 BCE etc.
Cave Paintings
Why did Prehistoric People make cave art?
TheoriesHuman Need / Desire to Create and Decorate
Worship / Spirituality
Used for Teaching / Story-telling
“Magic” Power – similar to voodoo practices
Calendar (way to mark time passed and hunting season)
Lascaux Cave Dordogne, France
Hall of Bulls Lascaux Cave
Hall of Bulls Lascaux Cave
Images of Animals (Bulls and Horses)
Painted on limestone with charcoal and natural clay materials
Cave discovered in 1940
Opened to the public after World War II (closed in 1963 due to damage)
15,000 – 13,000 BCE (Paleolithic)
Bird-Headed Man and BisonLascaux Cave
Bird-Headed Man and Bison Lascaux Cave
Narrative (tells a story)
Mythological figure lying down
Hunting Scene with Spear
15,000 – 13,000 BCE (Paleolithic)
Interior Map of Lascaux Cave
Altamira Caves Altamira, Spain
Bison Altamira Cave
Bison Altamira Cave
First Paleolithic cave discovered
Discovered by accident in 1879
Not accepted as authentic until 1902
Relief (bison stands out from the background)
12,000 BCE
(Paleolithic)
Four Horses Chauvet Cave
Four HorsesCharcoal Wall Paiinting
Chauvet Cave 30,000 BCE (Paleolithic)
• Cave discovered in 1994 (cave in South of France)
• Named after Jean-Marie Chauvet who discovered the cave
• Earliest known paintings ever found
• Cave contains numerous paintings of predatory animals, Minotaur, Venus, also handprints
• Cave sealed for thousands of years (outstanding condition)
• Cave closed to the public
Prehistoric Sculpture
Animals and Nude female figures
are the main subjects
Lamp with Ibex Design
Ibex
Lamp with Ibex Design
Oil lamp used in cave
Animal design engraved on stone
Supports theory that humans need to decorate
15,000 – 13,000 BCE (Paleolithic)
Woman from Willendorf
Woman from Willendorf
Found in Willendorf, Austria
Fertility symbol?
Originally named “Venus from Willendorf”
22,000 – 21,000 BCE
(Paleolithic)
Man and Woman
Multiple Interpretations (spiritual? everyday life?)
Found in grave near pottery production center in Romania
Simple cylindrical human figures
Natural poses true to life
Made from clay with bone and ashes added
Man and Woman, Ceramic Sculpture, 3500 BCE (Neolithic)
Horse and Sun Chariot
Horse and Sun Chariot
1800 – 1600 BCE Bronze Age Sculpture
Discovered in Denmark
Chariots (wheeled cart) dating back to 2000 BCE
Used for rituals to reenact the passage of the sun
Sun disk engraved gold with curved patterns
Prehistoric Architecture
As Paleolithic people adopted a settled, agricultural way of life, they began to build structures to use as houses, storage, and shelters for animals
Neolithic people also built Tombs and Buildings used for Ceremonies
Mammoth Bone House
Reconstruction Drawing
Mammoth Bone Houses
Mammoth House
In the Ukraine, Paleolithic people built houses using bones of the Wooly Mammoth (a kind of elephant now extinct).
The bones were covered with animal hides and natural materials to keep the inside warm
16,000 – 10,000 BCE Paleolithic architecture
Wooly Mammoth
Stonehenge Wiltshire, England
Stonehenge
2750 – 1500 BCE
Neolithic architecture
A henge is a circle of stones surrounded by a ditch
Post and Lintel Construction
Many theories why Stonehenge was built (ceremonies, calendar, observatory of sun and starts)
Stones from southern Wales
On Summer Solstice (June 21) every year the sun rises directly over Stonehenge (over the heel stone)
Map of Stonehenge